My official reason for this whole trip was my friend Crystal Heath's temple sealing in Logan, Utah, but of course I took advantage of the opportunity to visit all my favorite people while I was there! I don't have pictures of all of them, but I feel so grateful to have so many good people in my life all over the world.
Micah is a full-time college lady now, so I made my way up to Utah State University to visit her. I picked her up and we had lunch at The Bluebird, which is a cool old-timey soda fountain place. I actually think it's on the National Register for Historic Places. Then we went to Best Buy to get me a new phone, the grocery store to get her some food, and the ice cream place to get some ice cream.
Logan is one of many towns in Utah that has beautiful historic tabernacles. I love the historic church buildings in Utah!
After dropping Micah off, I met Jaime at a sushi place in Ogden before she and I did a little shopping.
The next day, we met Jaime's sister Michelle and her girls in Layton at a food truck festival. One of the trucks had a sandwich called The Bigfoot (I think), which was pulled pork and macaroni and cheese on a donut. People were all super intrigued by this but also afraid of it and very few would try it. I don't understand the hesitancy. All of these ingredients are delicious so I'm not sure why you'd be afraid of eating them together. We also tried some tacos that were on tortillas made of cheese. Like they were actually just sheets of cheese they laid out on the grill and cooked until they were hard and sturdy. They were delicious. All of those things were delicious. Except the fried pickles. Jaime bought those. I've given fried pickles two different chances now, and they're just not convincing me.
After lunch, Jaime and I headed up to Park City. Right before I moved away from Utah, I made a bucket list of things I wanted to do before I left. Riding the alpine slide in Park City was one of them, but I didn't get a chance to do it before I left and it's often closed when I make it back to Utah, so we made sure to go this time. When we got there, though, we realized you're supposed to have closed-toe shoes, which we didn't. It was also pretty chilly just hanging out, and we figured we'd be freezing zooming through the crisp mountain air. So we didn't ride the slide. Next time. We did, however, explore Olympic Park, which I'd never visited before. They had lots of displays about the 2002 Winter Olympics that were held in Salt Lake City and the surrounding areas. There's this big training pool where ski jumpers train, but we didn't see any while we were there. I love Olympics stories. The sacrifice and dedication of the athletes is so inspiring!
We went to downtown Park City and enjoyed a caramel apple while people watching then headed back down to Salt Lake and had dinner at a deli called Caputo's, which my roommate Rebecca had recommended. We had fancy sandwiches with imported meats and cheese and fancy chocolate that had weird ingredients.
That night we also met up with our friend Beth Doyle, who served with us in Argentina. She was my second companion in my first area - Ituzaingo - and then Jaime came and replaced me there so she was Jaime's companion, too. We sat and laughed for a few hours. Beth is just easy to talk to and fun to laugh with. She and Jaime convinced me to sign up for Tinder (which has produced no dates so far), while Beth entertained us with stories of her dating escapades. It was a really fun night!
The next day I went to Jaime's nephew's baptism, and then headed down to Bountiful for my uncle Paul's surprise 50th birthday party. His wife, JaNel, spent weeks planning this extremely detailed Beatles-themed party and she managed to keep it a total surprise from him! It was a great party, and I loved getting to see so many of my mom's family there. We played a basketball game called Seven on the Line and managed to keep Kevin from winning both times, so we all came out as winners, really.
Totally candid. Those are natural laughs.
I especially love this picture because Jared's really showin' the basket what's up. He look very threatening, and I'm sure that strategy is what makes him so successful.
On Sunday I went to church with Jaime and then we had dinner and hung out with some of her family members who came over. Taigon, the recently-baptized eight year-old, took the younger kids on wagon rides with the lawnmower.
One day that week I connected with five different friends in five different places, all of which involved food. The last one was my friend Christa Cotterel at a cupcake place in Pleasant Grove. I couldn't decide which flavor to get, so I just got six. They were all pretty good! Don't worry, I shared them with Hailey and her roommate Jill, who I stayed with that night.
I also spent a couple of afternoons over at Angela's house. Her baby, Lyla, was just three weeks old so I happily brought Ang dinner and cuddled her baby for hours while we watched "Castle." Lyla loves me. :)
Friday of that week I met Aubrey at the new Payson temple for an endowment session. The temple is so beautiful and so big! We went to lunch afterwards, then hung out at her house. Her husband Erik, also a friend of mine from when we were all in the same ward, came home and we barbecued and played with their cute little girls in the backyard. I love the Johnsons! Our friend DeeAura Willmon and her husband Dahlan stopped by that evening to visit, too.
Erik made us all pancakes in the morning, and Tess wowed us all with her high-fashion hairdo.
My last day in Utah was spent in Logan. I went up to the temple there for my friend Crystal's sealing. It was so fun to be there with her family - I was the only one from Indiana who wasn't related to her. I connected with Ellen Chamberlain - from Indiana but lives in Utah now - and Matthew McKay, who was a missionary in our singles branch in Indiana. He taught Crystal's husband before he got baptized. He's home from his mission now, so he was able to come to the sealing. I think the three of us were the only ones there not related to Crystal. There may have been one other couple. But we were definitely in the minority. It was fun to be there for Crystal, and I'm so happy for her and Michael!
After the sealing and dinner, I picked up Micah and she and I went to get a treat then some more groceries before I headed out the next day.
What a fun trip! Love all the pictures. And, yes, we all definitely won Seven on the Line, ha ha.
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